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There aren’t many family-owned amusement parks left in the world, but Knoebels is one of them. And this may sound strange, but you can actually feel that this is a family business. The atmosphere at Knoebels is unique and the people are very friendly. This park isn’t about bigger, faster or taller, but it’s just a nice place for the entire family to have fun. Knoebels offers a large variety of (mostly antique) flat rides, children’s rides and some surprisingly nice rollercoasters. The best coaster is without a doubt Phoenix. Although this ride is more than 30 years old, it offers some of the most perfect airtime I ever experienced on a rollercoaster. Twister is the park’s other big woodie. It’s worth a ride as well, but it’s unfortunately very rough.
Knoebels became world news in 2013, when their rollercoaster Flying Turns opened its doors. This wooden bobsled coaster was designed and built in-house and it took seven long years to complete. The result is a fun family ride. Don’t expect crazy speeds or an extreme rush of adrenaline, but the ride’s unique character makes up for that. Note that Flying Turns is a popular attraction and capacity is rather limited, so you may want to plan your ride early or late during the day.
Knoebels wasn’t on my bucket list, but I actually enjoyed my visit very much. The park’s location is stunning, there are some pretty good rides and I just loved the friendly ambience. The Knoebels family should be proud of this place and I hope they will add some other unique/extinct ride types in the near future. Wooden wild mouse, anyone?
